:00:00. > :00:14.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:15. > :00:24.Indian conglomerate Tatar steels itself for the sale of its UK
:00:25. > :00:25.operations. And the preteens producing tobacco, child labour on
:00:26. > :00:31.Indonesian farms. Welcome to this Wednesday edition
:00:32. > :00:46.of Asia Business Report. We start with Tatar steel and the
:00:47. > :00:50.Indian conglomerate will announce its financial results for the first
:00:51. > :00:55.three months of this year later this Wednesday. They might also reveal
:00:56. > :01:01.which bidders will continue in the race to buy the company's British
:01:02. > :01:05.assets, unloading them because of steep losses. What does it mean for
:01:06. > :01:12.the prospects of Tatar's global business? Our correspondent reports.
:01:13. > :01:20.This is where Tatar steel began its journey. Central India more than one
:01:21. > :01:25.century ago. Among the country's oldest steel companies, it grew to
:01:26. > :01:31.be one of the largest in the world. In 2007 it made a bold move, buying
:01:32. > :01:36.British factories, including the biggest here in Port Talbot. The
:01:37. > :01:43.ones to prized possession is now a financial burden. -- once prized.
:01:44. > :01:47.Tatar steel wants to sell off its entire UK business and hopes to
:01:48. > :01:52.boost Indian operations. Coming out of loss-making business in the UK
:01:53. > :01:58.has overall improved profitability and reduced the burden on the
:01:59. > :02:02.domestic business for Tatar. They have been doing well in the domestic
:02:03. > :02:08.business. In terms of profitability and the margins. The decisions made
:02:09. > :02:11.in this building, the headquarters, are not aimed at shrinking part of
:02:12. > :02:16.the company hurting the bottom line, but also expanding in areas
:02:17. > :02:20.where there is money to be made. It recently opened up a factory in
:02:21. > :02:28.eastern India. And while the domestic business is doing well, it
:02:29. > :02:31.is not without challenges. Domestic demand, we should have picked up, or
:02:32. > :02:37.expectation of improvement, that has not gone up. But supply is coming
:02:38. > :02:43.up. Steel companies in India are increasing capacity. And then of
:02:44. > :02:48.course there is competition from China which has been flooding the
:02:49. > :02:54.market with cheap steel. Even without its UK business, this Indian
:02:55. > :03:01.giant has many irons in the fire. In other news: making headlines,
:03:02. > :03:08.Montserrat has rejected a $62 billion offer from Germany's Bayer.
:03:09. > :03:14.The American company said it was inadequate but left the door open
:03:15. > :03:18.for a higher bid. Hugh Grant, CEO of Monsanto, race concerned about
:03:19. > :03:22.whether a deal will be approved by regulators. The marriage between the
:03:23. > :03:26.companies would create the biggest agricultural supplier in the world.
:03:27. > :03:34.Japanese carmaker Toyota says it is joining forces with right hailing at
:03:35. > :03:38.Uber. That will allow Uber drivers to finance cars with Toyota and
:03:39. > :03:43.cover payments are through to the earnings -- app. It is the latest
:03:44. > :03:47.deal between a car maker Andy ridesharing app. The alliance will
:03:48. > :03:52.go beyond just vehicle sales. Japan's Sony issued weaker than
:03:53. > :03:58.expected profit forecasts after the earthquake in April halting
:03:59. > :04:01.production at a key manufacturing facility. The consumer electronics
:04:02. > :04:08.giant expects a 2% rise in operating profit for the year until March
:04:09. > :04:13.2017. The 2.57 billion dollars is $1 billion short of what was
:04:14. > :04:20.forecasted. Huawei is suing Samsung over claims patterns have been
:04:21. > :04:24.infringed. The Chinese company said it was pursuing the South Korean
:04:25. > :04:31.rival in two ports, one in California and one in Chengin.
:04:32. > :04:36.Huawei says its inventions and communications were used in Samsung
:04:37. > :04:42.phones without permission. It is known as a short and snappy format
:04:43. > :04:48.limited to 140 characters, but Twitter is about to change all of
:04:49. > :04:54.that. With images and Twitter handles not counting to the total.
:04:55. > :05:00.Our correspondent asks Twitter CEO whether this is actually the start
:05:01. > :05:06.of longer tweets. The concept of brevity, the concept of speed, live
:05:07. > :05:09.conversation and being able to think something and put it out to the
:05:10. > :05:13.world instantly, that is what is most important. We are always going
:05:14. > :05:17.to look for opportunities to make tweets more expressive and really
:05:18. > :05:24.and able people to say what they want to say. Will they be longer,
:05:25. > :05:28.like Facebook posting? As long as things are fast and easy and simple
:05:29. > :05:36.and expressive, we are always going to look at what we can do around the
:05:37. > :05:40.platform and around tweets. The reluctance to get involved with
:05:41. > :05:46.Twitter is the sense that in many cases it is not a nice place to be.
:05:47. > :05:49.More so than other networks. You are seeing abuse and trolling. People
:05:50. > :05:55.might look at the change and say, the length of the tweet is the least
:05:56. > :06:00.of your problems, something is wrong with the fabric of Twitter, it
:06:01. > :06:06.harbours this discourse online. What can you do about that? I don't think
:06:07. > :06:10.the negativity and a abuse and harassment is unique to Twitter. It
:06:11. > :06:16.is industrywide and Internet wide. We all need to solve it. We made it
:06:17. > :06:20.a priority for the company. Have you seen the turnaround you hoped? It
:06:21. > :06:26.has been a year since coming back. What is your assessment? Things take
:06:27. > :06:30.time to change and build and I believe that the only thing you can
:06:31. > :06:35.do is focus on what matters and strengthen it. That is what we are
:06:36. > :06:41.doing. As the chief executive are you open to Twitter being bought or
:06:42. > :06:46.is not part of your plan? We are focused on making Twitter and
:06:47. > :06:49.amazing. Something we want to use everyday. We are an independent
:06:50. > :06:54.company and we are thriving. We want to continue to build that. If Google
:06:55. > :07:02.came with a cheque and said we're gonna by you out, would it be
:07:03. > :07:09.appealing? -- buy. We're focused on building a service. The Twitter CEO
:07:10. > :07:12.speaking with our correspondent. Some tobacco companies are
:07:13. > :07:16.purchasing products from farms which employ child workers. The BBC has
:07:17. > :07:19.found evidence of children working at every stage of the production
:07:20. > :07:24.process in Indonesia, the fifth-largest producer in the world.
:07:25. > :07:31.In a report today, Human Rights Watch claims thousands of children
:07:32. > :07:36.are working in the hazardous industry. Our correspondent reports
:07:37. > :07:41.from the island of Lombok.. Tobacco grows well here in dry but fertile
:07:42. > :07:45.soil on the island of Lombok. On the visit to the tobacco fields we found
:07:46. > :07:52.children working at every stage of the process. With their hands, Tina
:07:53. > :07:56.is putting chemical fertiliser on the tobacco plants. This is the
:07:57. > :07:59.first age of the process. The point where children really get involved
:08:00. > :08:02.is when these leaves and trees become big and then the children
:08:03. > :08:08.pick the tobacco leaves and take them into the oven to dry.
:08:09. > :08:13.TRANSLATION: I get headaches. I start coughing and become dizzy when
:08:14. > :08:21.the drive tobacco comes out of the oven. It is hard to breathe. --
:08:22. > :08:26.dry. I vomit and I get headaches. From the age of 12 she has been
:08:27. > :08:28.working on farms that supply to multinational tobacco companies,
:08:29. > :08:36.including Philip Morris international. Like this farm, he
:08:37. > :08:42.says lots of children worked for him during the harvest, including his
:08:43. > :08:46.11-year-old daughter. TRANSLATION: She just gets out the tobacco that
:08:47. > :08:50.has been dried in the oven. Sometimes she gets sick, sometimes
:08:51. > :08:56.she doesn't. The smell of the dry tobacco is really strong but it is a
:08:57. > :09:01.nice spell. It is a very strong smell. When we smell it with
:09:02. > :09:07.straight away feel dizzy. She doesn't smoke. LAUGHTER.
:09:08. > :09:12.For people who smoke it is nice but if you don't it gives you a
:09:13. > :09:16.headache. Symptoms reported are consistent with acute nicotine
:09:17. > :09:20.poisoning. Given that our working in close proximity with tobacco, it
:09:21. > :09:23.could be cases of acute nicotine poisoning. Philip Morris
:09:24. > :09:28.international acknowledge the BBC that there is child labour in their
:09:29. > :09:33.supply chain. Look, I am a father of three and I grew up in the world
:09:34. > :09:38.environment, and while I know it is normal that children help on the
:09:39. > :09:41.family farm, the report is pointing out situations that I as a father
:09:42. > :09:46.would be very concerned about. We are changing the way we procure
:09:47. > :09:50.tobacco, with direct contracts allowing us to provide concrete
:09:51. > :09:53.support, monitoring issues. On one of the direct contract farms that we
:09:54. > :09:59.were told children are no longer hide it. Tobacco is a dangerous
:10:00. > :10:07.drug. They get sick. It is dangerous. They get dizzy and
:10:08. > :10:11.headaches. But this woman says she will be working again in the next
:10:12. > :10:18.harvest, as she has since she was nine years old. Here is a look at
:10:19. > :10:24.the Asian markets, currently they are in positive territory with a
:10:25. > :10:27.rebounding US equity, which had the biggest gain since March, led by
:10:28. > :10:31.technology stocks and banks. Thank you so much for investing your time
:10:32. > :10:41.with us. IM Rico Hizon. Goodbye for now. -- I am Rico Hizon.